[24.] Many a hailstone.]—Ver. 222. Ovid here seems to think that snow is an intermediate state between rain and hail, and that hail is formed by the rapid motion of the snow as it falls.
[25.] The son of Pœas.]—Ver. 233. Philoctetes was the son of Pœas.
[26.] Again to visit.]—Ver. 232. It was decreed by the destinies that Troy should not be taken, unless the bow and arrows of Hercules were present; for which reason it was necessary to send for Philoctetes, who was the possessor of them. Troy had already seen them, when Hercules punished Laomedon, its king, for his perfidious conduct.
[27.] Roared.]—Ver. 239. ‘Diffusa sonabat—flamma’ is translated by Clarke, ‘The flame, being diffused on all sides, rattled.’
[28.] Protector of the earth.]—Ver. 241. Hercules merited this character, for having cleared the earth of monsters, robbers, and tyrants.
[29.] Atlas was sensible.]—Ver. 273. By reason of his supporting the heavens, to the inhabitants of which Hercules was now added.
[30.] Ilithyïa.]—Ver. 283. This Goddess is said by some to have been the daughter of Jupiter and Juno, while other writers consider her to have been the same either with Diana, or Juno Lucina.
[31.] The two Nixi.]—Ver. 294. Festus says, ‘the three statues in the Capitol, before the shrine of Minerva, were called the Gods Nixii.’ Nothing whatever is known of these Gods, who appear to have been obstetrical Divinities. It has been suggested, as there were three of them, that the reading should be, not ‘Nixosque pares,’ but ‘Nixosque Lares,’ ‘and the Lares the Nixi.’
[32.] Form of a comb.]—Ver. 299. This charm probably was suggestive of difficult or impeded parturition, the bones of the pelvis being firmly knit together in manner somewhat resembling the fingers when inserted one between the other, instead of yielding for the passage of the infant. Pliny the Elder informs us how parturition may be impeded by the use of charms.
[33.] Something unusual.]—Ver. 309. ‘Nescio quid.’ This very indefinite phrase is repeatedly used by Ovid; and in such cases, it expresses either actual doubt or uncertainty, as in the present instance; or it is used to denote something remarkable or indescribable, or to show that a thing is insignificant, mean, and contemptible.